Revisiting Amazonian Plants for Skin Care and Disease
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
In the present manuscript, the authors reviewed the literature regarding the bioactive properties, especially the uses for skin care and disease, of plant extracts from the species Carapa guianensis Aubl., family Meliaceae, Eperua falcata Aubl., family Fabaceae, Quassia amara L., family Simaroubaceae, and Attalea speciosa Mart. and Oenocarpus bataua Mart., family Arecaceae.
The manuscript is written very well. The presented informations are based on references that are updated. Moreover, information is given for the possible phytochemicals that are responsible for the bioactivities. There are not given many informations about the molecular mechanisms through which the bioactivities are mediated, but in this case the main problem seems to be that the data from the literature are restricted, since some of these plant species are not well studied. This is one of the few reviews regarding the bioactivities of the presented plant species, especially for their effect on skin care, and so it would be interesting for researchers working on this field. Thus, I would recommend the publication of the manuscript. I would suggest only some minor remarks for improving the manuscript.
1) In Table 1, it may be added one more column included the possible phytochemicals that are responsible for each effect.
2) Some of the references were not written in English (as it is reasonable, most of them are written in Portuguese). The authors should check if this is acceptable by the ‘Cosmetics’ journal.
Author Response
Available information about the mechanisms of action of the active principles of these species are very limited. This kind of news are extremely interesting and have been included in the review whenever possible.
Phytochemicals were already present in table 1, however, the table have been rearranged by splitting the column of active substances into phytocomplexes and phytochemicals.
As for the references in Portuguese, the editorial office of the journal has already made formatting changes, so we assume that the reference list is ok.
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments to the authors
In this review, the authors discuss about five species of trees and palm trees that occur as dominant in different rainforest areas of the Amazon region as sustainable sources of bioactive compounds for potential skin care and health applications.
The work is well-structured, well-written and easy to understand. It also addresses a subject that is of great interest in the scientific community, the study of the biological properties of plants whose ethno-pharmacological use is well-known.
The topic is perfectly in line with the "Cosmetics" journal and therefore I recommend publishing after minor revisions.
Line 36-38: This sentence has to be rewrite because seed oil or fruit oil are not bioactive compounds but phytocomplexes. Therefore, the most representative constituents of the phytocomplex should be specified as was done for the other plants mentioned.
Line 47: "Key words" should be changed in Keywords.
Line 100-101: "In vivo" should be write in italics.
Line 119: The authors should be specify of which extract talk, is it a crude extract?
Line 298 and 300: "In vitro and in vivo" should be write in italics. Please check it through the manuscript.
Author Response
Line 36-38: The sentence has been modified by following the reviewer's advice.
Line 47: OK, Keywords.
Line 100-101, Line 298 and 300: All "in vivo" and "in vitro" have been put in in italics.
Line 119: The kind of extract has been specified.
